


Jitters

by alessandralee



Category: Descendants (2015)
Genre: F/M, Weddings
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-08-26
Updated: 2015-08-26
Packaged: 2018-04-17 09:31:35
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,100
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4661592
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/alessandralee/pseuds/alessandralee
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Mal gets some reassurance from Belle on the day of her wedding.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Jitters

Mal dismissed the five maids it took to help her into her pale lavender gown as son as they’d finished dressing her. She’s learned to accept the sheer number of people it took to make royal events run smoothly, but she never got used to it. She probably never would.

She’d managed to talk the Master of Ceremonies out of the traditional one bridesmaid from every kingdom that made up the United States of Auradon. All she needed was Evie as her Maid of Honor, Jane, Lonnie, and, surprisingly, Audrey, who’d grown to be a true friend over the years.

She’d left all four of them in her dressing room, saying she needed a few moments to herself before the ceremony started.

Jane and Lonnie nodded; Audrey just smiled knowingly. Evie had joked that if she wanted to run away, Jay and Carlos had a fully planned escape route.

Mal doesn’t need one. She’s sure of her love for Ben, and the rest she can handle.

Probably. Eventually.

That doesn’t mean this isn’t completely overwhelming. There are nearly eight thousand guests, even more than at Beast and Belle’s wedding, swarming in and around the castle, reading to celebrate her wedding to their kind. And then there are the protestors, comparatively small, but so sure that the daughter of Maleficent will be their ruin.

They’d made her cry at sixteen. They’d made her question her goodness. Now they were just annoying. She knew her worth.

Still, eight thousand guests are enough to make anyone uncomfortable. Lucky for Mal, they were all either seated, making their grand entrances, or jostling each other for the best view of the giant TV screens set up in the courtyard.

The rest of the castle felt deserted. Mal walked through all that she’d never seen so empty, even in the middle of the night.

The kitchens are comparatively busier, but most of the food is already waiting in rooms adjacent to the banquet hall. The remaining kitchen staff pay her no mind, used to her frequent presence at this point.

All that remains are the desserts, and there are plenty of those. Blown sugar castles, miniature blueberry pies, truffles, puddings, fifteen different kinds of cookies, peanut butter brownies, pecan ice cream topped with whipped cream even fluffier than Mal’s dress, and other foods Mal doesn’t even recognize.

It’s a feast fit for a queen, which she will be after her coronation eight days from now. That dress, which awaits final fittings, is Auradon blue, and she feels much less herself in it than she does in this dress. That’s probably because Evie actually had a hand in designing her wedding dress.

Tucked away in a corner, where is can’t be knocked over by busy workers, sits a cake so tall Mal isn’t sure it will fit through the doorway.

“Big cake,” she whispers to herself, a little bit in awe of the gold frosted concoction and the strawberry filling she knows is inside.

“I felt the same way,” a soft voice says from behind her.

Mal startles, then turns around. It’s Belle, who will officially be in her mother-in-law in just a couple of hours.

Belle is a well-respected presence in the castle, and in all of Auradon, really. She’s known for her good judgment, and first few times they met, Mal was certain Ben’s mother would find her lacking.

She never did. She just made sure Mal learned all the etiquette necessary for the king’s girlfriend, like which fork to use with her salad, and how to greet a duke versus a prince.

Belle is a hard woman to pin down. She’s quiet, but observant. Sometimes she still makes Mal feel like a nervous teenager.

“Granted, I was also focused on not tripping over my dress, and hoping that I wouldn’t seem like too much of a country bumpkin,” Belle smiles at a private memory.

“You? A country bumpkin?” Mal can’t picture it. Belle is serene and graceful, the picture of royal elegance.

“I grew up in a quiet village about a day’s ride from here,” Belle confides. “My father was a bit… eccentric, and I always had my nose in a book. Unfortunately, none of those books really talked about what happened after the day was saved. Happily ever after isn’t exactly full of details.”

Mal knows the feeling. Ben gave her a book of his favorite fairytales for their first anniversary. It had his parents’ story, and her mother’s, and a bunch of the really old ones that date back generations before Auradon’s founding. They’d been a good read, but they never really touched on what happens after true love’s kiss.

“I’d say things turned out all right,” Mal comments.

Belle smiles, “They certainly did. I just didn’t know it at the time. All I saw was a big cake, fit for more guests than every single person in my hometown, each of which was more poised and more polished than I could ever be.”

Again, the sentiments ring a bell for Mal. She’s been living in Auradon for nine years now, but it feels like there’s always some tradition or event that she’s never even heard of. And there’s always someone ready to remind her of how she doesn’t belong.

She must look freaked out, because Belle says, “I didn’t mean to scare you. I just wanted you to know that, even when it feels like you’ll never fit, you will. You have a fresh perspective, and you’ll make a great queen.”

“I will?” Mal’s voice shakes a little. She’s been telling herself that everything will be fine, but hearing it from someone like Belle makes it feel a little more certain.

“You’ve already started. Your Isle of the Lost reform program gave a lot of people a chance at a new life. The goblins certainly thank you for it. You’ve managed to correct mistakes that my husband and I made.”

Tears well in Mal’s eyes, and she delicately wipes them away. Evie will have a field day if she ruins her makeup before she even walks down the aisle.

Mal wouldn’t say that she and Belle are close. They’re both very busy people, with plenty of responsibilities, and most of the time they spend together is also spent with Bean and Beast.

It’s such a weight off her shoulders to hear that someone who is so loved and respected approves of her.

Mal looks back at the cake, lost in thoughts of the future.

She’s always been sure of her feelings for Ben, now she’s a little more sure of herself.


End file.
